Abstract:
The present invention is directed to an on-demand, on-board vehicle system and process the for conversion of a starting fuel comprising saturated hydrocarbons to a final fuel comprising one or more unsaturated hydrocarbons using an on-board reactor. The final fuel may have a higher Research Octane Number (RON) and/or lower cetane number than the starting fuel and may be supplied to an on-board engine only when the engine load requires a fuel with a higher RON and/or lower cetane number than the starting fuel, which also minimizes or eliminates the operating inefficiencies of octane "give away" and maximizes the economic operation of the vehicle.
Abstract:
A waste treatment plant (200) integrates larvae-based natural processing with chemical processing for transforming animal waste into chemical products. The plant (200) includes a pretreatment unit (203) configured to receive animal waste (204), moisturize the animal waste (204) with water (212), provide black soldier fly, BSF, larvae (216), and load a tray (220) with a mixture of the animal waste (204), water (212), and the BSF larvae (216); a storage room (222) configured to receive the tray (220) and hold the tray (220) between 10 and 14 days; a separation mechanism (226) configured to receive a content of the tray (220) after the 10 to 14 days, and separate the BSF larvae (216) from undigested animal waste (228); a chitin and protein extraction unit (231) configured to receive the BSF larvae (216) and extract chitin (238) and proteins (240); and a thermo-processing unit (251) configured to receive the undigested animal waste (228) and extract bio-oil (254) and bio-char (256).
Abstract:
A method for controlling an engine involves an engine control unit determining that a three-stage heat release in a cylinder in the engine should be performed. Responsive to the determination that the three-stage heat release will not occur within the cylinder, the engine control unit adjusts conditions within the cylinder in such a manner to cause the three-stage heat release within the cylinder. The engine control unit monitors conditions in the cylinder during a second stage heat release of the three-stage heat release. The engine control unit adjusts conditions in the cylinder during the second stage heat release to terminate reactions in the cylinder at an end of the second stage heat release.
Abstract:
Provided herein are compounds and methods of producing compounds for improving ignition quality and combustion efficiency of fuels, for example fossil fuels. In various aspects we generate highly oxygenated compounds from hydrocarbon feedstocks. The feedstock can be a branched alkane or n-alkane having a chain length greater than or equal to 6, a cycloalkane with a 5 or 6 membered ring structure, or a alkylated cycloalkane with 5 or more carbon atoms. The reactant can be fed in the gas- phase to a partial oxidation reactor (with or without a catalyst), and at a fixed temperature, mixture composition, and residence time. The reactant can be converted to a mixture of products including keto hydroperoxides, diketo hydroperoxides, keto dihydroperoxides, hydroperoxyl cyclic ethers, and alkenyl hydroperoxides. The compounds are inherently unstable and can quickly decompose to highly reactive radical species that can be used to improve the ignition quality of a fuel and advance ignition in an engine.
Abstract:
A compound (260) for enhancing lubrication includes nanoparticles (250) having a size less than 100 nm; and a polyphenol derived agent (240) coating an external surface of the nanoparticles (250) for enhancing the lubrication.
Abstract:
An emission-free power generation system includes a combustion chamber (402) having a first inlet (402A) for receiving a fuel (407) and a closed-loop fluidic circuit (450) fluidly connected between a second inlet (402B) of the combustion chamber (402) and an outlet (402C) of the combustion chamber (402). Combustion gases from the combustion chamber (402) include only water and carbon dioxide, and the fuel includes performic acid or a combination of formic acid and hydrogen peroxide.
Abstract:
The present invention discloses a system and method for supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of biomass materials wherein the system includes a SCWG reactor and a plurality of heat exchangers located within a shared pressurized vessel, which decouples the function of containing high pressure from the high temperature function. The present invention allows the heat transfer function to be conducted independently from the pressure transfer function such that the system equipment can be designed and fabricated in manner that would support commercial scaled-up SCWG operations. By using heat exchangers coupled to the reactor in a series configuration, significant efficiencies are achieved by the present invention SCWG system over prior known SCWG systems.